“She [Grendel’s mother] had been forced down into fearful waters/the cold depths, after Cain had killed / his father’s son…” (61.Lines 1260-2). Grendel’s mother, one of the three monsters that Beowulf fights, in the epic poem Beowulf written by an author unknown, is a violent being who creates conflict to avenge her son, Grendel. Grendel’s mother is consciously compared and contrasted to the main peace-weaver Queen Wealhtheow and the main aggressive female Queen Modthryth. Beowulf argues that Grendel’s mother shares common characteristics with the two aforementioned human women, while being starkly different from them, implicating deeper thematic exposures.
Grendel’s mother, during her conquest for revenge, compares to the highly aggressive and violent actions of Queen Modthryth. Modthryth is a very destructive woman who kills men who dare look her in the eyes, “…to look [her] in the face…tortured/until death was pronounced…” (74.1934.; 75.1937-8). In comparison, Grendel’s mother is a women who attacks an entire mead hall of innocent people to avenge the place where the man who killed her son was staying, “…sallied forth on a savage journey/grief-stricken and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (62.1277-8). Furthermore, through their desire for violence and aggression,
Modthryth’s and Grendel’s mother’s actions show a comparable lack of logic. Modthryth kills innocent men just because she does not welcome their eyes upon her face. Modthryth’s actions suggest a complete loss of logic because the men have not committed a crime, they have simply, “…stared at her directly in sunlight” (74.1935). Moreover, she is not in a position to punish (kill) anybody just because they have done something she does not agree with. Comparably, Grendel’s mother shows no sign of logic because, while trying to avenge her son, she kills innocent men in the Geat’s mead-hall. Instead of logically planning a way to simply fight Beowulf, she kills men in the mead-hall to get his attention. Moreover, the text suggests her revenge act is not logical because Grendel, himself, had no justifiable reason to attack and kill all those people in the mead hall: “he had dwelt for a time/in misery among the banished monsters” (36.104-5). The quote suggests that Grendel’s exile has made him envious of them which made him attack them, not because they truly did anything to warrant his killings. Not only do Grendel’s mother and Modthryth have violent and illogical aggressive tendencies, they also share common masculine elements.
Because of their aggressive personas, Beowulf reveals that Grendel’s mother and Modthryth have similar masculine elements, much like that of the warriors. Both Grendel’s mother and Modthryth have things to accomplish: Grendel’s mother to revenge her son, and Modthryth to hurt and kill the people that “wrong” her. Grendel’s mother shows resemblance to Modthryth because both carry out their tasks in masculine ways: evoking deliberate pain, skilled use of weaponry, instilling fear, and defiantly. For example, the text says: Then he [Beowulf] saw a blade that boded well A sword in her [Grendel’s mother’s] armory, an ancient heirloom From the days of the giants, an ideal weapon One that any warrior would envy (67.1557-60).
This is important because when Beowulf needs a weapon to defeat Grendel’s mother she, not a warrior, has a great knife that any warrior would desire, including the “Shielding’s hero” (67.1563). This suggests that Grendel’s mother has masculine qualities, like Modthryth, because, in her possessions, she has things only warriors (men) would envy. Moreover, Modthryth’s use of swords suggests the same: her skill of weaponry shows that of a warrior: “until doom was pronounced – death by sword” (75.1938). This quote shows the relative ease in which Modthryth kills and how she uses her advanced sword skills to kill. Yet, even though Grendel’s mother and Modthryth have a lot of resemblances, there are acute differences between them.
Grendel’s mother and Modthryth, while having similar characteristics, have one major difference between the two: motive. Modthryth killed because she was looked upon, while Grendel’s mother killed to avenge her son. Grendel’s mother is doing a “heroic” deed while Modthryth is killing because she believes they have wronged her. In Modthryth’s case, her motive is nothing other than guys looking at her; there is no evidence within the text supporting any of those men raping her, assaulting her, killing her family members and/or friends, or stealing from her. However, in Grendel’s mother’s case, it is extremely evident that she attacks solely because she believes her actions will avenge her son, Grendel. Beowulf shows, “now she [Grendel’s mother] would avenge her only child” (67.1546-7), her sole reasoning: revenging her son. This is a striking difference because this implicates something more than just what is on the surface of these two characters.
Beowulf reveals that there are literary reasons for Grendel’s mother and Modthryth to be similar, yet starkly different. Written about Pagan people by a Christian author, Beowulf is suggestively implicating, by contrast of these two women (one an inhuman monster), that both, at some point, were misdirected when men aren’t close by. Modthryth completely changes her behavior when she marries King Offa, which shows her mental reversal when men become present: “in days to come/she would grace the throne and grow famous/for her good deed and conduct of life…” (75.1951-3). Now, this quote shows, Queen Modthryth is a model queen and a great peace weaver. On the other hand, Grendel’s mother is nowhere to be found while Grendel is alive. She is not a model citizen, by any means, but she isn’t causing any mayhem. But, soon after Grendel dies, Grendel’s mother is close behind, waiting to take vengeance on the person who killed her only child.
Moreover, their differences implicate something further: human sinner v. perpetually damned. Grendel’s mother cannot change while Modthryth, on the other hand, is now saved from being eternally damned. The Christian author is suggesting that humans can change and be saved, while those monsters who are descendants of Cain
